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ID DRESS 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THK 


TWO  LITERARY  SOCIETIES 


Wiukrsiii)  fif  norl!)  Caolinii, 


MAY  31st,  1854, 


HON.  AAHOJf  V.  BUOWN. 


r 


PUBLISHED    BY    ORDER    OF    THE    PHILANTHROPIC    SOCIETY. 


EALEIGH,  N.  C: 
PUBLISHED     BY    WILLIAM     C  .    D  0  U  B  , 

1854. 


Pqilanthropic  Hall,  Chapel  Hiix,  N.  C,  June  let,  1854. 
Sir: — The  undersigned  have  been  appointed  a  committee  in  behalf  of 
the  Philanthropic  Society,  to  express  to  you  the  very  great  pleasure  and 
gratification  they  realized  on  the  delivery  of  your  peculiarly  interesting  and 
appropriate  address  before  the  two  Literary  Societies  of  the  University  on 
yesterday;  and  solicit  a  copy  of  the  same  for  publication. 

In  performing  this  agreeable  duty,  the  committee  are  desirous  of  tenderincc 
their  individual  thanks,  and  adding  their  personal  solicitations  to  those  of 
the  body  they  represent. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

C.  W.  YELLOWLEY, 


A.  B.  IPJON, 
A.  B.  HILL. 


To  Gov.  A.  V.  Browx. 


Raleigh,  N.  C,  June  2nd,  1854. 
■  Gentlemen: — I  fear  that  you,  as  well  as  the  society  you  represent,  over- 
estimate the  address,  a  copy  of  which  you  request  fi,r  publication.  It 
was  prepared  in  haste,  amid  the  frequent  interruptions  of  piivate  pursuit.?, 
and  will  be  found  on  perusal,  trite  in  its  subjects  and  devoid  of  that  interest, 
which  the  exciting  scenes  transpiring  on  the  day  of  its  delivery,  doubtlesg 
conspired  to  give  it.  I  submit  it  however  to  yoi;r  better  discretion,  with 
my  sincerest  thanks  to  you  and  to  the  society  which  v'ou  represent,  for  tha 
favorable  opinion  of  it  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  express. 
Very  sincerely,  yours  &e., 

AARON  V.  BROWN, 
C^      To  Messrs.     C.  W.  Yellowley, 

.  A.  B.  Irion,  )■    Comviittee,  dc. 

\h  A.  B.  Hill. 

»o 


^  '■» 


«  t 


ADDEESS. 


Gextlemex  of  the  Philaxthpopic  and  Dialectic  Societies  : — 

After  an  absence  of  just  forty  years  I  return  to  these  ancient 
and  consecrated  halls  :  I  return  upon  your  kind  invitation,  here 
to  ofier  up  on  the  altars  of  my  early  worship,  renewed  vows  of 
devotion  and  gratitude,  to  that  alma-mater,  who  in  the  days  of 
my  youth  carried  me  in  her  arms  and  folded  me  to  her  bosom. 
During  this  long  pilgrimage  I  have  seen  and  felt  enough  to 
render  this  sentiment  of  homage  and  respect  both  profound  and 
indelible.  Wherever  I  have  been,  I  have  seen  no  success  crown 
the  eflforts  of  her  alumni,  and  no  public  honors  conferred  upon 
them,  which  might  not  be  fairly  attributed  to  their  early  disci- 
pline in  this  Institution,  and  her  two  Literary  Societies.  It  was 
here  that  the  foundation  was  laid  for  a  sound,  thorough  and 
practical  education.  It  was  here  that  they  were  taught  to 
redeem  every  moment  of  their  time — to  put  temptation  at  defi- 
ance— to  scorn  the  degradations  of  vice — to  watch,  like  the 
eagle,  for  every  opportunity  of  improvement,  and  when  discov- 
ered, however  high  or  far  off,  like  that  noble  bird,  to  fly  upward 
to  it. 

Their  eminent  success  in  every  profession  and  pursuit  in  life, 
ought  to  remove  every  doubt  which  at  any  time  may  have  crossed 
your  minds,  as  to  the  Institution  you  have  selected.  You  have 
heard  much  of  Princeton,  of  Yale  and  Harvard,  and  in  momenta 
of  gloom  and  despondence  you  may  have  doubted,  whether  some 
one  of  these  would  not  have  been  better,  or  might  not  have 
opened  to  you  an  easier  or  more  certain  passport  to  the  honors  and 
emoluments  of  life.  The  Presidential  mansion,  the  Halls  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  the  courts  and  legislatures  of  half  the  States 
of  the    Union,  all  unite  in  quieting  every  such  apprehension. 


Wherever  the  graduates  of  this  Institution  have  come  in  collis- 
ion with  those  of  other  Colleges  and  Universities,  they  have 
never  retired  ingloriously  from  the  conflict.  In  the  arts  and 
Bciences  they  have  yielded  nothing  on  the  score  of  genius  and 
talents.  At  the  Bar  and  on  the  Bench  they  have  exhibited  a 
learning  as  varied,  profound  and  accui  ate.  In  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber they  have  displayed  an  eloquence  as  lofty  and  a  patriotism 
as  heroic.  On  the  battle-fields  of  liberty,  their  swords  have 
gleamed  as  brightly,  and  their  war-plumes  waved  as  proudly,  and 
when  the  conflict  was  ended  they  have  returned  wi'h  laurels  as 
green  and  unfading  as  ever  decked  the  brow  of  the  soldier. 

Be  then  content  with  Chapel  Hill.  Walk  amid  her  groves  and 
breathe  the  pure  atmosphere  of  her  almost  mountain  elevation. 
If  you  would  be  daily  inspired  with  fresh  devotion  to  learning 
and  piety,  here  you  can  visit  the  tomb  of  Caldwell,  the  noble 
founder  of  the  University,  and  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  its  brightest  ornament.  If  you  would  kindle  up  in  your 
bosoms  the  patriotic  fires  of  the  revolution,  look  out  to  the  west, 
where  you  can  almost  behold  the  battle  grounds  of  Guilford  and 
King's  Mountain.  Nearly  in  the  same  range  of  vision,  lies  good 
old  Mecklenburg,  who  threw  down  the  first  defiance  to  British 
power,  and  first  proclaimed  American  Independence.  Turn  your 
eyes  now  to  yonder  eastern  summit.  There  you  can  look  down 
upon  the  plain,  that  stretches  ofi"  in  the  distance  as  far  as  York- 
town,  where  the  last  great  battle  was  fought,  and  where  the 
American  Eagle  uttered  her  loudest  notes  of  triumph  and  exul- 
tation. Surrounded  on  every  side  by  holy  and  consecrated 
memorials  like  these,  who  is  not  compelled  to  exclaim  "this  is 
the  place" — the  very  place  beyond  all  others,  where  the  altars 
of  learning,  piety  and  patriotism  should  have  been  erected. 

There  is,  however,  another  doubt  which  more  frequently  comes 
darkling  over  the  mind  of  the  desponding  student.  Secluded 
from  the  world,  trimming  with  nervous  hand,  his  midnight  lamp 
in  his  lonely  dormitory,  he  is  oftentimes  tempted  to  ask,  Avhy  all 
this  toil  and  labor  ?  what  good  does  education  bring  to  its  anxious 
votaries,  to  compensate  them  for  so  many  privations  in  its  acqui- 
sition? Whether  this  question  be  asked  under  the  pressure  of 
exhausted  nature,  or  from  the  susgestion  of  an  indolent  lassitude 


\?liicii  shrinks  from  exertion  of  every  description,  its  influence  ie 
too  paralyzing  to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  "What  good  doos 
Education  do  ?"  What  good,  might  be  asked,  is  there  in  being  a 
man,  in  all  the  proportions  of  dignity  and  power,  instead  of  the 
mere  dwarf,  who,  if  not  too  insignificant  to  invite,  is  certainly 
too  feeble  to  resist  aggression.  Bat  what  good  is  there  in  phys- 
ical manhood  of  the  most  athletic  proportions,  without  a  mind, 
a  spirit,  a  soul  to  animate,  to  elevate,  to  assimilate  to  its  own 
divine  origin  and  destination. 

But  this  question  is  not  commonly  propounded  in  a  sense  so 
startling  to  the  intelligence  of  the  19th  century.  It  is  intended 
as  an  enquiry  into  the  value  of  Collegiate  Education  over  that 
of  self-made  man,  who  often  rises  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of 
fame  by  the  vigorous  exercise  of  his  own  native  talents.  Our 
argument  does  not  maintain  that  Education  can  only  be  had  in 
Universities  and  Colleges,  but  only,  that  it  must  come  from  soine- 
where.  It  may  come  from  the  field,  in  the  intervals  of  rest 
from  the  severe  toils  of  the  husbandman.  It  may  come  from 
the  workshop  of  the  mechanic,  in  nightly  meditations,  when 
others  have  given  themselves  up  to  inglorious  repose.  It  may 
come  to  those  who  have  slighted  their  opportunities  at  College, 
under  the  very  delusion  we  are  now  considering,  but  who,  on 
discovering  the  infinite  error  which  they  have  committed,  retire 
with  eagerness  to  the  chambers  of  private  study,  and  by  redoubled 
eHorts  atone  for  their  former  indolence.  Franklin  did  indeed 
snatch  the  lightning  from  the  heavens,  and  Morse  sent  it  flash- 
ing round  the  world,  speaking  the  language  of  every  nation  and 
giving  utterance  to  every  thought  and  sentiment  of  the  human 
family.  But  not  until  they  were  educated — ^^wcll  and  soundly 
educated — not  in  the  College  but  out  of  the  College.  "  Count 
Rumford  did  not  stand  pre-eminent  among  the  Philosophers  of 
Europe,  nor  did  West  become  President  of  the  Royal  Academy 
at  London,  until  they  had  passed  through  a  long  and  severe  dis- 
cipline of  reading,  reflection  and  ob&ervation.  What  enabled 
Whitney  to  invent  the  Cotton  Gin,  now  giving  more  than  one 
hundred  millions  to  the  annual  products  of  our  country  ?  Whence 
sprang  that  beautiful  and  6omplicated  machinery  of  Arkwright 
for  spinning  and  of  Cart\7right  for  weaving  this  vast  product, 


8 

thereby  doubling  it  in  value,  and  greatly  diminishing  the  expense 
of  clothing  a  large  portion  of  the  human  family  ?"  These  inven- 
tions -were  not  the  result  of  untutored  ignorance,  blindly  blun- 
dering upon  them  by  accident:  hut  of  Education ;  not  general 
Education,  it  is  true,  sweeping  the  whole  horizon  of  the  arts  and 
sciences,  but  Education,  mental  exercise  and  discipline,  in  one 
especial  and  particular  pursuit.  But  surely  it  cannot  be  neces- 
sary to  press  an  argument  in  favor  of  Education  beyond  its 
own  obvious  advantages.  Society  has  settled  the  question.  The 
vast  machinery  of  Universities,  Colleges,  Academies  and  com- 
mon schools  which  she  has  set  in  motion — the  throng  of  intel- 
lectual and  ingenuous  youth  who  crowd  the  portals  of  these 
institutions — the  sighs  and  regrets  of  all  who  have  never  enjoyed 
such  opportunities — the  universal  homage  and  respect  paid  to 
educated  men,  and  the  indelible  impress  made  by  them  on  all 
public  affairs — and  above  all,  the  wonderful  and  almost  magical 
progress  and  improvement  of  our  country  under  these  educa- 
tional influences  and  appliances,  all  demonstrate  that  this  ques- 
tion of  "what  good,"  is  settled,  conclusively  and  finally  settled. 
There  is  yet  another  class  of  desponding  students,  to  whose 
fears  and  apprehensions  we  would  address  ourselves  on  the  pres- 
ent occasion.  These  admit  the  inestimable  value  of  learning, 
and  are  exerting  every  faculty  of  body  and  mind  to  acquire  it, 
yet  the  preparation  is  so  tedious  and  their  progress  apparently 
so  slow,  that  they  sometimes  apprehend  that  they  may  be  too 
late  in  entering  on  the  theatre  of  life — that  the  golden  moment 
may  have  passed — that  all  the  avenues  to  wealth  and  fame  may 
be  preoccupied  by  others,  and  that  at  last  they  may  fail  of  that 
success  to  which  so  much  toil  and  labor  would  seem  fairly  to 
entitle  them.  This,  gentlemen,  brings  me  to  the  distinctive 
subject  which  I  have  selected  for  our  communion  on  the  present 
occasion.  To  exhibit  (very  briefly  of  course)  such  a  view  of  the 
United  States — its  progress  in  government — in  territory — in  its 
multiplied  and  daily  increasing  pursuits  and  employments,  as 
may  have  a  tendency  to  inspire  young  men  just  entering  into 
life,  with  encouraging  hopes  and  confidence  of  success. 


9 


lis  Progress  and  Improvement  in  Government — in  TERiir- 
TORY — IN  ITS  Industrial  Employments — Its  Scientific 
AND  Professional  Pursuits. 


The  liistory  of  the  United  States,  its  discovery,  settlement 
and  general  progress,  is  but  a  succession  of  wonderful  events, 
romantic  as  anything  to  be  found  in  the  gorgeous  stories  of  Ara- 
bian fiction.  That  there  should  have  been  any  United  States 
at  all,  is  a  preliminary  wonder  that  challenges  and  confounds 
all  ordinary  calculations.  Where  else  is  it  recorded  as  a  reality 
in  hum  in  affairs,  that  a  mere  handful  of  men  have  been  collected 
in  haste  and  disorder  as  at  Lexington  and  C  uncord,  and  a  revo- 
lution commenced  so  grand  in  its  operations  and  so  sublime  in 
its  results  ?  "Without  pre-established  coLnection  between  the 
colonies — without  a  ship  on  the  ocean — without  a  soldier  in  the 
field — without  a  dollar  of  revenue  in  their  coffers,  they  bade 
defiance  to  the  oldest  and  strongest  civilized  nation  in  the  world  ! 
They  were  impelled  to  the  perilous  deed,  by  no  sudden  or  brutal 
outrage  such  as  drove  a  Tarcjuin  from  the  Roman  throne — by  no 
warlike  invasion  of  their  homes  and  altars,  such  as  Grecian 
valor  was  called  upon  to  resist,  on  the  plains  of  Marathon,  or 
the  mountain  passes  of  Thermopjilse  !  It  was  the  imposition  of 
a  mere  paltry  taxation,  neither  enormous  in  amount,  nor  flagi- 
tious in  the  mode  of  its  collection.  Looking  at  this  as  the  real 
cause,  it  would  have  been  better,  far  better  for  our  aucestorci  to 
have  paid  the  duties  on  a  few  pieces  of  stamped  paper,  or  on  a 
few  boxes  of  tea,  than  to  have  plunged  into  a  war.  so  protracted, 
expensive  and  bloody.  But  the  noble  actors  in  the  soul-stirring 
scenes  of  that  day,  looked  far  beyond  these  ostensible  and  incon- 
siderable provocations.  They  knew  and  felt !  heaven  inspired 
them  to  know  and  feel,  that  the  hour  had  come  when  they  should 
build  up  an  independent  Empire  in  the  new  world ;  an  Empire 
wherein  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of  themselves  and  their 
posterity  should  be  secured  and  established  forever.  Under- 
standing the  magnitude  of  the  work,  they  dedicated  to  it,  "their 


10 

bves,  their  fortunes  and  their  sacred  honors."  All  else  was 
abandoned.  The  implements  of  husbandry  were  left  rusting  in 
the  field — the  ring  of  the  anvil  was  no  longer  heard,  save  in  the 
manufacture  of  some  rude  instrument  of  war — churches  dedi- 
cated to  the  Most  High  were  deserted,  with  no  one  to  minister 
at  their  altars — the  school  houses  and  the  colleges  were  shut  up, 
and  both  teacher  and  scholar  hastened  to  the  tented  field. 
Long  and  dubious  was  the  conflict ;  when  driven  from  the  plains, 
they  took  refuge  in  the  mountains ;  the  rocks  and  the  hills 
became  their  castles  of  defence.  Sometimes  buried  in  snows — 
often  wasted  with  disease  and  threatened  with  famine.  When 
compelled  to  retreat  from  province  to  province,  the  enemy  would 
follow  them,  by  the  blood  trickling  from  the  feet  of  their  bare- 
footed soldiery.  Patiently  they  suffered  every  privation,  and 
heroically  they  fought  whenever  opportunity  furnished  the  faint- 
est hope  of  success,  until  at  last  the  struggle  was  ended  in  a 
blaze  of  glory  on  the  plains  of  Yorktown  !  Full  as  this  subject 
is  of  national  and  individual  exultation,  it  is  adverted  to  here  to 
remind  the  young  men  of  the  present  generation  of  the  immense 
advantages  they  enjoy  in  entering  upon  life  with  our  national 
liberties  firmly  established.  You  have  to  go  through  no  seven 
years  war  in  order  to  establish  wise  and  salutary  institutions, 
under  Avhich  you  might  hope  to  be  happy  and  prosperous.  Why, 
seven  years  is  nearly  the  third  part  of  the  active  and  busy  man- 
hood of  life  !  now  thanks  to  our  noble  ancestors  every  thing  is 
prepared  ready  for  our  advent.  The  tree  of  liberty  planted  by 
their  valor  and  watered  by  their  blood,  has  put  forth  its  branches 
far  and  wide,  and  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  walk  beneath  its 
shade,  and  gather  the  rich  fruits  that  cluster  on  its  boughs. 

The  fortunate  and  brilliant  termination  of  the  war  was  not, 
however,  the  completion  of  that  Republican  organization  for 
which  it  was  mainly  commenced.  Temporary  and  provisional 
arrangements  had  indeed  been  made,  but  the  great  Temple  had 
not  yet  been  built.  The  Revolution  had  only  prepared  its  foun- 
dation— vast,  solid  and  permanent.  The  same  skillful  workmen 
who  laid  the  foundation  were  summoned  to  erect  the  superstruc- 
ture. Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson  and  Madison  came.  Ham- 
ilton, Roger  Sherman,  Rutledge  and  the  Pinckneys  were  there. 


u 

They  came  fresli  from  the  scenes  of  the  Revolution,  with  all  the 
hopes  and  inspirations  of  that  great  event.  They  looked  far 
backward  into  the  history  of  man,  and  scrutinized  every  form 
of  government  that  had  ever  been  established.  They  looked 
forward,  also,  into  the  distant  future  as  far  as  mortal  vision  is 
allowed  to  penetrate.  A  long  succession  of  ages  passed  in  dim 
and  shadowy  review  before  them.  They  saw  the  millions  who 
were  to  be  the  future  inhab"tants  of  this  vast  Continent.  They 
gazed  with  wonder  on  its  lakes  and  bays  and  harbors — on  its 
mountains  and  rirers  and  luxuriant  vallies,  until  wrapped  and 
inspired  by  the  prophetic  vision,  they  conceived  the  great  design 
and  plan  of  our  present  happy  form  of  government.  Its  adop- 
tion constitutes  the  grandest  epoch  in  the  science  of  govern- 
ment. It  was  then  that  man  recovered  his  long  lost  birthright 
of  self-government,  and  trampled  beneath  his  feet  the  odious 
doctrine  that  the  Kings  of  the  earth  had  a  divine  right  to  gov- 
ern him,  and  that  it  was  rebellion  against  Heaven  to  resist  their 
oppressions. 

The  present  is  no  fit  occasion  for  a  disquisition  on  the  Consti- 
tution so  adopted — to  analyze  its  proportions — to  decide  whether 
it  established  a  National  or  Federative  Republic — whether  soy- 
reignty  resides  in  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  one  aggre- 
gate whole,  or  in  the  people  of  the  respective  States  in  their 
confederate  character.  To  none  of  these  vexed  and  subtle 
questions  do  we  now  address  ourselves,  but  invoke  your  attention 
to  the  great  fact,  that  so  far,  it  has  eminently  secured  to  the 
people  the  disideratum  required — a  sound,  healthy  and  prosper- 
ous system  of  self-government.  The  great  problem  has  been 
solved,  that  man — civilized,  educated,  moral  man — can  govern 
himself,  dispensing  with  the  whole  system  of  here^litary  mon- 
archy, with  its  attendant  orders  of  nobility.  So  complete  and 
undeniable  has  been  the  solution  of  that  problem  that  it  has 
given  rise  to  another :  wdiether  those  who  formed  our  State  and 
Federal  Constitutions  did  not  underrate  the  capacity  of  the 
people  for  self-government.  The  question  is  now  being  asked, 
why  were  the  people  not  permitted  to  elect  the  President  by 
their  own  direct  action,  without  invoking  the  agency  of  an  Elec- 
toral College?     Why  they  were  not  permitted  to  elect  the  two 


'h 


Senators   wlio  are  to  represent  their  State  sovereignty  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States?     If  that  sovereignty  be  in  them, 
why  the  employment  of  the  subordinate  agency  of  the  Legisha- 
ture?     So,  of  the  Judges,  State  and  Fedcial,  who  are  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  their  lives,  liberties  and  fortunes.     These  and  sim- 
ilar questions  are  now  presenting  themselves  in  the  progress  of 
future  constitutional  reform.     We  barely  state  them  with  the 
remark,  thai  ho\vever  they  may  be  settled,  no  decision  which  may 
be  made  can  detract  from  that  eternal  debt  of  gr;ititude  and  honor 
which  we    owe  to  the  patriots  and  statesmen  who  framed  our 
State  and  Federal   Constitutions.     Trained   and  disciplined  as 
the  American   people  have  been,  by  general  education — by  the 
public  press,  and  by  the-  information  annually  flowing  out  from 
the  Legislatures  of  the  diffV^rent  States,  and   from  the   halls  of 
Congress,  it  would  be  no  matter  of  wonder  if  they  were  now 
prepared  to  venture  still  nearer  to  the  forms  and  principles  of  a 
pure  and  perfect  self-government.     The  experience  of  the  past 
should  repress  all  apprehension  as  to  what  is  to  be  the  decision 
on  any  or   all  of  these  questions.     The  people  of  the  United 
States  are  fully  competent  to  decide  them  wisely,  as  well  as  all 
other  politica'  questions  which  the  emergency  of  the  times  may 
make  necessary.     He  who  lias  a  hearty  reliance  on  the  great 
popular  basis  on  which  our  government  is  founded,  should  never 
indulge  in  mournful  anticipations  of  the  future.      "The  gallant 
mariner  does  not  pale  before  each  gathering  cloud,  nor  tremble 
when  he  hears  the  howling  tempest.     He  knows  his  ship  and  that 
its  sturdy  sides  can  stand  the  dashing  wuves  and  ride  in  triumph 
the  agitated  waters.""  Not  so  with  the  timid  and  distiustful 
statesman.     He  can  see  danger  in  every  change,  and  tr:mble 
with  awe  at  the  very  thought  of  progress  and  improvement ! 

Under  the  benign  influences  of  that  form  of  government 
which  we  have  just  been  considering,  the  United  States  has  made 
the  most  wonderful  progress  in  the  acquisition  of  territory  and 
in  the  accession  of  States  to  the  Union.  ■  At  first  not  one  of  the 
old  Thirteen  which  achieved  our  independence,  extended  in  its 
effective  organization  much  beyond  the  range  of  our  eastern 
mountains.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  new  States  began 
to  rise  like  exhalations  from  the  rich  soil  and  genial  climate  of 


13 

the  Mississippi  Valley.  That  great  River,  liowever,  interposed 
its  barrier  to  all  further  expan'^ion  in  that  direction.  All  beyond 
it  belonged  to  the  crown  of  Spain.  The  English  Government, 
either  from  exasperation  for  the  recent  loss  of  her  colonies,  or 
from  that  passion  for  distant  possessions  Avhich  is  j^et  displayed 
in  India,  resolved  to  acquire  that  portion  of  our  Continent. 
Napoleon  saw  the  movement,  and  to  foil  and  baffie  his  great  ene- 
my, exerted  his  preponderating  influence  with  the  court  of  Spain 
and  procured  it  for  himself.  Soon  afterward,  by  a  fortunate 
negotiation,  Mr.  Jefierson  acquired  it  by  trealy  for  the  United 
States. 

Here  was  another  event  in  our  political  history  almost  marvel- 
lous, and  scarcely  less  important  than  our  Independence  itself. 
Louisiana  extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  great  Lakes  of 
the  North.  Its  base  was  the  Father  of  ''•Vaters  from  its  mouth 
with  all  its  meanders,  to  its  very  head  fountains.  If  the  transfer 
to  England  had  not  been  prevented,  what  disastrous  and  blight- 
ing influence  must  it  not  have  exerted  on  the  future  destinies  of 
the  Republic  ?  Where  now  are  Iowa,  Missouri,  Arkansas  and 
Louisiana,  would  have  been  large  and  powerful  provinces  belong- 
ing to  Great  Britain.  Her  large  cities  might  have  grown  up  on 
the  site  of  St.  Louis,  or  opposite  Cairo,  to  Me^nphis  and  to 
Natchez.  Even  New  Orleans  would  have  been  hers,  and  the 
mouth  of  the  most  magnificent  River  on  the  Continent,  if  not  in 
the  world,  would  have  been  in  her  possession.  A  line  of  impreg- 
nable fortifications,  bristling  Avith  artillery,  might  have  been 
everywhere  directed  against  us.  AVith  her  possessions  in  Canada  , 
on  the  North,  with  such  as  we  are  now  considering  on  the  "West, 
and  her  Islands  on  our  Eastern  coast,  the  L'nited  States  would 
have  been  environed  on  all  sides,  and  we  should  have  felt  and 
known  that  our  freedom  wcs  but  a  delusion,  and  that  the  battles 
for  independence  were  only  begun,  not  ended.  Well  might  Mr. 
Jeff"erson  designate  the  West  as  his  favorite  country,  and  lono- 
should  that  West  offer  up  to  liis  memory  the  homage  of  its  admi- 
ration and  gratitude.  Having  crossed  the  Mississippi,  the  march 
of  Empire  was  still  westward  and  onward.  It  passed  over  the 
Sabine  in  the  annexation  of  Texas.  It  precipitated  itself 
|)eyond  the  Del  Norte,   in  the    acqinsition  of  California,  and 


scaling  the  Rocky  Mountains,  could  only  find  its  termination  on 
the  distant  shores  of  the  Pacific.  What  a  magnificent  country 
for  the  future  abode  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Freedom !  It 
offers  to  them  every  soil  and  climate  and  production.  It  opens 
wide  the  door  of  welcome  admission  into  every  occupation  and 
profession,  and  guarantees  to  a  life  of  sobriety,  industry  and 
energy,  the  surest  and  most  eminent  success. 

But  the  progress  of  the  United  States  in  territorial  expansion 
has  not  been  more  wonderful  than  the  various  means  which  sci- 
ence has  invented  to  obviate  the  inconvenience  of  her  increasing 
magnitude.  Although  as  large  as  the  Empire  of  Rome  or  that 
of  Alexander,  and  nearly  three  times  as  large  as  that  of  France 
and  Great  Britain  combined,  the  inventions  and  improvements  of 
the  age  have  practically  compressed  her  within  the  dimensions  of 
roost  ordinary  nations. 

Her  telegraphic  instructions  can  be  transmitted  in  a  few  mo- 
ments to  her  most  distant  agents.  From  his  head-quarters  at 
Washington,  her  commanding  General,  with  the  rapidity  of 
thought,  can  give  his  orders  to  his  army  to  advance  at  once  on 
an  invading  enemy.  In  the  world  of  commerce  and  business, 
correspondence  flies  on  the  wings  of  the  lightning,  and  both 
principals  and  factors,  though  widely  separated,  understand  each 
other  as  if  they  were  inhabitants  of  the  same  city.  In  the  arts 
and  sciences,  every  new  idea  that  may  become  practically  useful, 
is  conveyed  at  once  to  the  mechanic,  the  operative  and  the  man- 
ufacturer. In  the  hgal  profession  no  new  principle  is  adjudica- 
ted, and  in  the  medical,  no  new  antidote  is  discovered  to  stay 
the  sweeping  and  desolating  scourge,  which  is  not  promulgated 
almost  in  the  twinkling'  of  an  eye  to  the  remotest  corners  of 
the  Republic. 

If  to  the  Telegraph  we  add  the  facilities  of  the  Railroad, 
penetrating  every  valley,  and  of  the  Steamboat,  navigating  all 
our  Lakes  and  Bays  and  Rivers,  we  are  compelled  to  abandon 
every  apprehension  of  danger  from  great  expansion.  May  no 
f^enuine  son  of  Liberty  ever  desire  it  to  be  less.  America  mav 
be  the  last  asylum  of  Freedom  to  the  down-trodden  and  oppressed 
millions  of  mankind.  Let  her  have  scope  and  verge  enough  for 
all  who  understand  and  revere  her  principles  and  implore  the 


u 

protection  of  her  Eagles.  We  started  with  only  thirteen :  W9 
now  have  thirty-one  States.  Why  may  we  not  at  some  future 
day  have  fifty  or  one  hundred  States,  all  moving  like  the  con- 
stellations  of  Heaven  around  the  Constitution  as  their  common 
center  !  That  Constitution  was  ordained  and  established  for 
the  express  purpose  of  expansibility  and  progress.  It  provided 
expressly  for  the  admission  of  new  States  without  number,  but 
consecrated  the  word  Equality,  for  their  eternal  welfare  and 
preservation.  Equality  of  rights  amongst  the  States — Equality 
of  rights  amongst  the  millions  of  individuals  who  are  to  live 
under  it.  Equality  !  that  great  word — unknown  to  the  Consti- 
tution of  any  other  nation  in  the  world — scoffed  at  by  the  titled 
nobility  of  other  lands — derided  by  the  wealthy,  proud  and 
insolent,  but  here  made  the  foundation  of  a  new  social  and  polit- 
ical system,  better  securing  the  civil  rights  and  religious  privile- 
ges of  mankind.  Save  to  us  this  one  word,  Equality,  and  adhere 
faithfully  to  a  strict  construction  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
execution  of  it  according  to  its  plain  and  obvigus  import,  and 
we  have  nothing  to  apprehend  from  the  wide  and  growing  expan- 
sion of  our  country.  No  matter  how  many  States  may  compose 
it — no  matter  how  diversified  their  climates,  soil  and  produc- 
tions— no  matter  M'here  may  be  the  preponderance  of  popula- 
tion, nor  to  what  region  the  sceptre  of  power  may  be  transfer- 
red, give  to  all,  both  States  and  people,  their  just  and  equal 
rights,  with  the  proper  means  to  understand  and  defend  them, 
and  this  Government  will  prove  to  be  the  greatest  boon  ever 
conferred  on  the  human  family. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  contemplation  of  our  country  in  her 
progress  in  those  industrial  and  professional  pursuits  into  which 
your  preparations  here  are  mainly  intended  to  introduce  you. 
Eoremost  of  all  the  pursuits  of  man  stands  agriculture.  It  was 
the  original  and  natural  employment  of  our  race.  The  Patri- 
archs were  successful  cultivators  of  the  earth.  Among  the 
Komans  the  proudest  patrician  thought  it  no  disgrace  to  live  on 
his  farm  and  cultivate  it  with  his  own  hands.  Cincinnatus  was 
called  from  the  plough  to  save  his  country,  and  having  accom- 
plished the  great  work,  resigned  the  Dictatorship  and  hastened 
back  to  his  labors  in  the  field.     It  is  not  only  the  most  anciewt 


16 

employment,  but  its  necessity  and  usefulness,  are  the  greatest. 
It  is,  in  fact,  ttie  foundation  of  all  others.  There  can  be  no 
commerce,  no  manufactures,  and,  indeed,  no  subsistence  without 
it.  In  the  expressive  language  of  an  old  adage,  "  it  makes  all, 
pays  all,  and  supports  all."  But  although  it  is  the  substratum 
of  all  the  other  pursuits,  it  has  always  been  the  most  neglected. 
A  very  high  degree  of  education  has  been  considered  necessary 
to  those  who  intended  to  betake  themselves  to  the  learned  pro- 
fessions. Some  preparation  was  thought  necessary  to  success  in 
commerce,  manufactures  and  the  mechanic  arts,  but  in  agricul- 
ture, no  apprenticeship,  no  degree  of  instruction  seems  to  have 
been  thought  at  all  important.  Men  were  to  be  educated 
to  other  things,  but  they  were  to  be  born  farmers.  How  to 
follow  the, plough  and  to  handle  the  axe  and  the  scythe  was  to 
be  the  sum  total  of  the  qualifications  for  the  noblest,  the  most 
virtuous  and  the  happiest  occupation  of  man. 

Happily  for  our  country,  however,  these  rude  notions  have 
been  rapidly  giving  way  before  the  advancing  intelligence  of  the 
age.  The  establishment  of  agricultural  professorships  in  some 
of  our  colleges,  the  reports  from  one  of  the  Bureaus  at  Wash- 
ington, the  organization  of  fairs,  and  the  publication  of  news- 
papers and  periodicals,  exclusively  devoted  to  the  subject,  are 
beginning  to  place  agriculture  rather  in  advance  of  any  other 
pursuit  or  profession.  Wherever  in  the  United  States  it  has 
made  its  greatest  progress,  there  the  relative  rank  of  the  planter 
and  farmer,  in  the  social  circle,  has  been  the  most  completely 
restored.  He  no  longer  stands  back  in  conscious  inferiority  to 
the  lawyer  and  physician.  As  well  educated  as  they;  as  learned 
in  his  profession  as  they  are  in  theirs  ;  remunerated  by  as  large 
profits,  and  devoting  those  profits  to  hospitalities  as  elegant  and 
rational,  he  knows  and  feels  that  he  is  pursuing  a  calling  which 
may  well  challenge  a  comparison  with  any  other.  In  confir- 
mation of  this  just  claim  of  equality,  he  sees  all  other  profes- 
sions and  pursuits  beginning  to  pay  homage  to  the  one  which  he 
has  selected.  How  many  of  the  learned  professions  are  found, 
of  late  years,  engaged  in  the  same  bold,  vigorous  and  healthful 
pursuit  ?  How  many  opulent  merchants  and  manufacturers  are 
retiring  in  the  evening  of  their  days,  and  engaging  in  agricul- 


17 

liire  ?  Even  tlie  statesman,  and  the  warrior  pay  the  same  houJ- 
age  to  this  noble  calling.  Mr.  Webster,  in  the  midst  of  his  highest 
fame,  still  looked  to  his  favorite  Marshfield,  and  cherished  the 
hope  that  he  might  spend  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  the  culti- 
vation of  his  field.s,  and  in  looking  after  his  herds  and  his  flocks. 
Mr.  Clay  clung  to  the  same  hope,  as  to  the  rich  fields,  and  the 
Verdant  lawns  of  Ashland.  Gen.  Jackson  sighed  when  he  left, 
the  precincts  of  the  Hermitage,  and  exchanged  the  cultivation 
of  his  farm  for  the  executive  sv/ay  of  a  mighty  empire. 

Of  all  the  professions,  learned  or  unlearned,  it  is  best  calcu- 
lated to  inspire  deep  and  undying  sentiments  of  patriotism. 
Standing  on  his  own  soil,  personally  identified  with  it  as  his  own, 
the  farmer  is  ever  ready  to  protect  and  defend  it.  It  may  have 
descended  to  him  from  ancestors,  whose  memory  he  reveres—-* 
the  dwelling  may  have  been  built  or  the  orchard  planted  by  a 
father's  hand.  Here  is  the  green  lawn  on  which  he  played,  the 
spring,  the  brook,  the  grove,  the  church,  all  consecrating  bin 
home,  and  inspiring  him  with  attachments  which  can  cease  only 
with  his  life.  "Wherever  business  or  other  necessity  of  life,  may 
'  compel  him  to  roam, 

"He  still  has  hope,  his  long  sojournings  past, 
Safe  to  return  and  die  at  home  at  last/' 

We  speak  not  of  him  who,  inheriting  from   his  ancestors  his 
broad  acres   and  his  many  servants,  commits  them  all  to  the 
superintendence  of  a  selfish  and  ignorant  agency,  and  betakes 
himself  to  the  crowded   city,  to  pursue  a  life  of  indolence  and 
pleasure,  far  removed  from  the  invigorating  and  manly  pursuits 
which  we  are  now  commending.     We  speak  rather  of  him  v/ho 
resides  on  his  farm,  or  near  to  it,  and  directs  in  person  its  scien- 
tific cultivation ;  of  him  v,dio  knows  personally  that  his  servants 
are  well  fed,  well  clothed,  well  housed,  and  well  protected  against 
unmerited  punishment,  inflicted  by  cruel  and  capricious  subordi- 
nates.    This  is    the   farmer  and  planter  who  is  worthy  of  the 
name.     Such  an  one   soon  finds  every  thing   prospering  under 
his  enlightened  and  humane  supervision.     From  ruder  construc- 
tions and  more  humble  preparation  he  advances  in  his  improve- 
ments, until  the  convenient  and   costly  edifice,  the  wide-spread- 
ing and  verdant  lawn,  the  waving  field  and  the  abundant  harvest, 
2 


■f. 


p.ve  unerring  evidence  that,  in  the  selection  of  his  pursoit,  he 
was  both  wise  and  fortunate. 

Connected  with  agriculture,  there  are  two  other  pursuits  of 
increasing  importance,  which  claim  a  large  portion  of  the  edu- 
cated talent  of  the  United  States.  Geology  and  mineralogy  in 
the  last  few  years  have  taken  rank  in  dignity  and  usefulness 
with  any  other  science.  Those  who  engage  in  them  are  contin- 
laally  startled  by  the  discovery  of  new  facts  in  the  world's  history, 
which  inspire  them  with  the  most  sublime  emotions.  Whilst 
charmed  by  a  brilliant  succession  of  discoveries,  they  are  richly 
rewarded  by  their  practical  usefulness  in  developing  the  rich 
mines  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron  and  other  metals  essential  to 
the  welfare  and  comfort  of  the  human  family.  In  no  age  of  the 
world,  and  in  no  country,  was  there  ever  a  wider  field  opened 
for  well  educated  professors  in  these  sciences.  Nearly  every 
State  in  the  Union,  every  mining  association,  and  every  agricul- 
tural community  is  invoking  their  presence  and  assistance. 
Even  here,  in  your  own  State,  wealth  in  untold  millions  lay 
buried  in  your  mountains  for  more  than  half  a  century  after  it 
became  inhabited.  Geology  at  last  smote  the  rock,  and  the  hid- 
den streams  of  individual  and  national  wealth  are  gushing  and 
pouring  out  upon  you.  The  employments  which  these  sciences 
afford  are  destined  to  be  as  permanent  as  they  are  lucrative  and 
important.  This  vast  continent  is  no  where  fully  populated. 
There  are  yet  mighty  regions  of  it,  on  which  the  foot-print  of 
the  civilized  man  has  never  yet  been  made.  These  will  open, 
for  ages  to  come,  outlets  to  the'  hardy  pioneer,  the  geologist  and 
mineralogist. 

Nearly  the  same  observations  may  be  submitted  to  you  in 
favor  of  Civil  Engineering,  as  one  of  the  comparatively  new, 
but  now  permanent  and  lucrative  employments  of  the  present 
advancing  state  of  society.  In  the  new  and  the  old  States,  we 
are  destined  to  feel  more  and  more  the  necessity  of  improved 
roeans  of  intercommunication.  The  fiat  has  gone  forth  that  we 
must  have  railroads,  canals  and  unobstructed  rivers ;  that  the 
mountains  must  be  leveled  or  penetrated  ;  that  the  ships  of  war 
and  of  commerce  must  pass  through  an  Isthmus  which  has  sep- 
arated two  great  oceans  from  the  morning  of  the  creation  ;  that 


19 

ao  obstructions  must  prevent,  and  no  difficulties  retard  these 
mighty  enterprises.  Who  can  safely  and  successfully  guide  ua 
to  these  great  results  but  the  educated  and  accomplished  engi- 
neer ?  Our  colleges  must  furnish  him.  They  must  endow  pro- 
fessorships and  all  the  appliances  proper,  to  enable  him  to  meet 
the  high  demands  of  the  age. 

The  mechanical  and  useful  arts  seem  to  have  found  their 
favorite  home  in  the  United  States.  It  was  here  that  Franklin 
made  those  brilliant  discoveries  in  electricity,  that  placed  him  in 
the  first  rank  of  the  philosophers  of  the  age.  It  was  here  that 
Morse  gathered  the  laurels  of  immortality  in  the  same  science. 
It  was  here  that  Fulton  invented  the  steamboat,  and  Whitney 
the  cotton  gin.  It  is  here,  too,  that  Ericson  has  introduced  his 
caloric  engine,  which  seems  destined  in  the  opinion  of  many  tu 
supercede  every  other  motive  power  heretofore  known  to  science. 
Besides  these  great  and  capital  discoveries,  the  mechanics  of  our 
■country  are  daily  making  the  most  valuable  improvements  upon 
the  old  ones,  and  thus  are  placing  themselves  among  the  greatest 
benefactors  of  mankind ;  yet  for  them  no  colleges  nor  instituies 
have  been  erected  ;  no  libraries  have  been  founded  ;  no  profess- 
orships have  been  endowed,  and  no  degrees  conferred  upon  them,. 
as  the  incentives  of  industry  and  the  rewards  of  merit. 

Although  the  real  masters  of  arts,  the  title  is  never  bestowed 
upon  them.  Although  truly  and  profoundly  learned  in  sciences 
the  most  practical  and  useful,  yet  who  ever  heard  of  the  title  of 
"Learned  Doctor  in  Mechanics,"  or  that  of  "Learned  Doctor 
in  Agriculture  !"  The  Lawyer  who  may  have  made  a  few  pro- 
found and  able  arguments  at  the  bar  :  the  Physician  who  suc- 
cessfully performs  a  rare  and  difficult  operation  in  surgery:  the 
Clergyman  who  delivers  orthodox  and  eloquent  sermons  to  his 
congregation,  all  find  the  honors  of  literature  showered  thickly 
upon  them.  Why '  withhold  them  from  the  mechanic  whose 
enterprise  and  learning  in  his  peculiar  science,  gave  existence 
to  the  printing  press,  justly  denominated  "  the  great  engine  of 
■modern  civilization  and  refinement  ?"  Shall  the  Geologist,  also, 
have  no  honors,  who  opens  to  us  the  sublime  mysteries  of  the 
planet  which]  we  inhabit,  and  brings  forth  the  rich  treasures 
which  lie  concealed  in  its  bosom?     Shall  no  diplomas  likewise 


reward  the  sturdy  toil  and  labor  of  the  agriculturist  ?  He  is 
pursuing  the  most  ancient  and  honorable  profession  ever  followed 
by  man.  It  was  Adam's  profession.  It  was  that  of  Cincinna- 
tus.  It  was  Washington's  profession,  and  yet  even  these  could 
not  ennoble  it.  Nothing  indeed  seems  able  to  rescue  all  these 
pursuits,  which  we  have  just  mentioned,  from  a  supposed  inferi- 
ority to  what  have  been  usually  called  "  the  learned  professions." 
upon  which  alone  our  collegiate  and  literary  honors  are  bestowed. 
Manufacturers  occupy  too  conspicuous  a  place  among  the 
Industrial  employments  of  the  United  States,  to  be  overlooked 
in  an  address  like  this.  Heretofore  they  have  flourished  chiefly 
and  almost  exclusively  in  the  Northern  portions  of  the  RepTlb- 
lic.  A  great  change,  however,  has  been  taking  place  in  this 
respect,  and  the  effort  now  making  to  introduce  them  into  the 
South,  would  seem  to  challenge  our  most  earnest  attention. 
Looking  at  the  natural  advantages  and  the  circumstances  favor- 
ing their  introduction,  we  cannot  withhold  the  opinion,  that  the 
South  is  eminently  suited  to  the  introduction  of  nearly  every 
branch  of  this  sort  of  industry.  We  have  the  greatest  variety 
and  excellence  of  natural  product,  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral. 
We  have  unsm  passed  water-power  for  propelling  machinery.  Our 
rivers,  canals,  and  railroads  furnish  every  facility  of  intercom- 
munication. The  intelligence,  enterprise  and  moral  habits  of 
our  people  furnish  the  highest  guarantees  of  our  ultimate  and 
final  success.  But  whilst  eminently  suited  to  all,  the  South  is 
mainly  directing  her  efii"orts  to  the  manufacturing  of  her  own 
peculiar  staple.  If  she  shall  bo  trile  to  her  interest,  she  will 
never  give  over  her  exertions  until  she  shall  abstract  one-fourth 
or  eveu  one-third  of  her  liborers  engaged  in  the  production  of 
the  raw  material  and  employ  them  in  manufacturing  it.  Every 
stream  should  be  made  tributary  to  her  purposes.  Every  eligible 
site  on  her  navigble  rivers  and  on  her  railroads  should  be  occu- 
pied. Her  capitalists,  but  chiefly  her  planters,  should  be  appealed 
to  earnestly  to  engage  in  the  work.  The  latter  can  build  the 
houses  necessary  with  their  own  hands.  Two  or  three,  or  half 
a  dozen  living  contiguously  can  unite  in  one  establishment. 
They  can  select  from  their  own  stock  of  slaves,  the  most  active 
and    intelligent  ones,  for   operatives,   without   the   necessary 


21 

advances  in  money  to  other  laborers.  The  cost  of  machinery^ 
and  the  expense  of  one  or  two  skillful  superintendants  and 
instructors,  ■will  be  nearly  the  actual  outlay  of  capital  for  the 
business.  Under  such  a  system  as  this,  the  planter  can  realize 
the  profits  not  only  of  production,  but  those  of  manufacturing.. 
Besides  this,  the  abstraction  of  so  much  labor  from  the  produc- 
tion, would  give  an  elevation  and  steadiness  of  price  to  the  raw 
material,  which  would  better  justify  its  cultivation. 

Here  is  a  wide  and  noble  field  opened  to  the  cultivated  talent 
of  the  young  men  of  the  South,  which  they  should  be  proud  to 
explore.  Yv'e  hold  it  to  be  a  libel  on  our  own  countrymen  to  say 
that  they  have  not  the  requisite  talent  and  enterprise  to  enable 
them  to  succeed,  and  that  they  must  continue  to  depend  on 
others,  on  this  or  the  other  side  of  the  ocean. 

From  her  industrial  employments,  let  us  now  turn  to  contem- 
plate the  progress  of  our  country  in  those  professional  pursuits, 
into  which  your  preparations  here,  are  no  doubt  mainly  intended 
to  introduce  you.  Foremost  among  these,  and  indeed  the  only 
one  we  shall  consider,  stands  the  Profession  of  the  Law.*  Fore- 
most, because  of  the  deep  and  lasting  impress  it  has  made  on 
all  of  our  American  institutions.  In  the  discussion  of  those 
great  questions,  which  resulted  in  the  declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. In  the  old  Congress  that  fon^aed  the  Constitution  and  in 
the  State  Legislatures  that  ratified  it,  the  men  of  this  profession 
surpassed  all  others  in  the  extent  and  variety  of  their  learning, 
and  in  that  bold  and  thrilling  eloquence  which  the  occasion 
demanded.  It  has  furnished  every  President  of  the  United 
States  except  two.  It  has  furnished  a  majority  of  every  Cabi- 
net and  a  long  list  of  eminent  attorneys-general.  It  has  had 
entire  possession  of  course  of  the  Judicial  department,  both 
State  and  Federal.  In  the  Halls  of  Congress  and  in  the  Leg- 
islatures of  the  respective  States,  its  power  and  influence  has 
been  scarcely  less  signal.  It  would  be  difiicult  to  specify  a  sin- 
gle great  problem  in  legislation,  which  did  not  owe  its  final 
solution  to  the  talents  and  eloquence  of  men  distinguished  in 
this  profession.    Ofi'ering  to  her  votaries  honors  so  high  and  daz- 

*  Quotations  are  freely  made  on  this  subject  from  an  address  lately  deliv- 
ered to  the  law  class  of  the  Cumberland  University,  Lebanon,  Tennessee. 


22 

y.ling,  no  wonder  they  should  throng  and  crowd  her  portals  for 
feo  mission. 

But  they  will  enter  in  vain,  in  the  present  advanced  and 
improved  condition  of  our  country,  unless  they  bring  with  them 
the  fixed  and  unalterable  determination  to  make  themselves 
fimphatically  and  truly  profound  and  able  Lawyers.  The  times 
havo  gone  by,  for  merely  skimming  over  the  profession,  com- 
prehending a  few  only  of  its  general  principles,  and  acquiring 
twme  slight  familiarity  with  its  details  in  practice.  No.  He 
must  dive  into  its  hidden  depths,  penetrate  its  secret  arcana, 
and  bring  up  the  pure  and  sparkling  waters  from  the  very  bot- 
tom of  the  well  of  knowledge.  He  who  undertakes  to  master 
this  first  and  noblest  of  human  sciences,  should  also  fully  com- 
prehend the  magnitude  of  the  work.  It  embraces  Law  in  its 
widest  and  most  comprehensive  sense.  The  Laws  of  God — of 
nature — of  nations — of  independent  States:  under  the  latter — 
the  common  law — the  statute  law — the  constitutional  law — the 
■commercial  law — the  law  of  real  estates — of  descents.  In  fine  it 
fimbracesall  law,  human  and  divine,  and  challenges  the  profound 
Btudy  of  years  to  comprehend  and  expound  them.  But  even  these 
•re  not  all  the  studies  of  the  Lawyer.  There  are  others  collat- 
eral and  incidental  which  must  by  no  means  be  neglected.  He 
must  make  himself  well  acquainted  with  history,  both  ancient 
and  modern.  Especially  should  an  American  Lawyer  be  familiar 
with  the  history  of  his  own  country,  with  our  revolutionary  his- 
tory, with  the  discussion  and  events  which  led  to  the  first  confed- 
eration of  the  colonies,  with  the  debates  on  the  formation  of  the 
Federal  constitution  and  its  subsequent  adoption  by  the  States, 
and  the  debates  in  Congress,  on  leading  topics,  since  that  period. 
All  these  illustrate  the  true  nature  of  our  government  and  shed 
a  light  on  its  laws  and  institutions  which  the  lawyer  who  deserves 
the  name  must  fully  comprehend. 

Vast  as  this  amount  of  hard  and  severe  study  may  seem  to 
be,  still  more  remains  to  him  who  would  shine  with  the  steady 
brilliancy  of  the  truly  great  Lawyer.  He  will  have  spent  many 
years  almost  in  vain  if  he  shall  have  neglected  the  art  of  speak- 
ing. To  be  the  finished  Orator  at  the  bar,  in  the  pulpit,  the 
Senate  chamber,  or  the  lecture  room,  he  must  be  master  of  logic 


23 

and  rhetoric.  These  are  auxiliary  to  true  eloquence,  and  when 
combined  with  it,  have  exalted  man  above  all  other  attainments 
and  achievements  in  life.  This  etherial,  this  almost  God-like 
faculty  is  especially  necessary  in  criminal  cases.  In  capital 
ones,  the  responsibility  is  immense.  That  vital  spark  which  God 
has  given  is  committed  to  the  hands  of  the  advocate,  to  preserve 
it  alive  or  to  extinguish  it  forever.  One  argument  omitted,  it  is 
lost !  one  bold,  fervid  and  eloquent  appeal,  and  it  is  saved  !  He 
Avho  sways  the  sceptre  of  an  Empire  or  wears  the  sword  of  a 
conqueror,  enjoys  no  prouder  triumph  than  he  who  overcomes 
the  unconscious  prejudices  of  both  Judge  and  jury,  and  by  the 
magic  power  of  his  eloquence  snatches  his  client  from  the  very 
jaws  of  perjury  and  the  grave. 

If  it  be  asked  what  lifetime  will  be  long  enough,  and  what 
constitution  of  body  will  be  strong  enough,  to  acquire  this  vast 
fund  of  knowledge,  we  can  only  point  to  the  numerous  instances 
of  eminent  Lawyers  and  Judges  who  have  attained  to  the  high 
standard  which  we  have  here  erected.  It  is  however  undeniable 
that  many  have  fallen  and  perished  on  the  way  side.  Whilst 
with  one  hand  they  were  sowing  the  rich  seeds  of  knoAvledge, 
with  the  other  they  were  scattering  those  of  disease  and  death. 
Physically  unable  to  go  through  so  many  years  of  hard  prelim- 
inary study  or  to  sustain  the  Herculean  labor  of  a  large  and 
lucrative  practice,  or  to  preside  through  long  and  perplexing 
terms  in  the  administration  of  justice,  they  have  been  too  fre- 
quently summoned,  in  the  very  mid-way  of  life,  to  a  premature 
grave. 

I  congratulate  the  age  and  the  profession  upon  the  dawn  of  a 
most  auspicious  change  in  the  arduous  toils  of  preliminary 
preparation  and  of  the  subsequent  practice  of  the  law. 

The  great  reforms  now  everywhere  beginning  to  be  called  for, 
will  go  far  to  remedy  the  physical  inability  which  has  cut  short 
the  career  of  some  of  the  master  spirits  who  have  adorned  the 
profession. 

The  present  state  of  jurisprudence,  in  most  of  the  States  of 
the  Union,  has  long  been  the  subject  of  the  most  serious  com- 
plaints. The  arbitrary  division  of  rights  into  legal  and  equitable, 
und  the  establishment  of  separate  structures,  to  maintain  and 


24 

perpetuate  these  idle  and  injurious  distinctions — the  investiga- 
tion of  one  division  of  rights  bj  oral  testimony  in  one  court, 
and  another  division  in  another  court  by  depositions — the  ina- 
bility of  another  court  to  complete  justice  in  many  cases,  •without 
the  aid  of  the  organization  and  process  of  the  other — the  con- 
stant mistakes  as  to  the  proper  court  in  which  relief  is  to  be 
asked,  arising  from  the  unsettled  and  changing  boundaries  of 
their  jurisdictions — the  impossibility  of  determining  the  proper 
jurisdiction  in  many  cases  Until  the  proof  shall  have  been  heard — 
the  double  set  of  costs  accruing,  and  the  double  delay  incurred — 
the  frequent  taxation  of  costs  on  the  party  entitled  to  a  recovery, 
and  who  docs  in  fact  ultimately  recover — all  unite  to  keep  alive 
a  spirit  of  discontent  in  the  popular  mind.  Plain  men  go  into 
the  courts  and  there  hear  almost  endless  discussions  upon  ques- 
tions which  they  regard  as  utterly  frivolous.  They  see  their 
own  and  the  public  time  consumed  in  settling  questions  about 
a,mendments,  pleading,  jurisdiction,  &c.,  and  the  causes  taken 
up  and  reversed  against  the  justice  of  the  case,  upon  some  point 
whose  force  they  cannot  see  when  settled.  They  understand  not 
much  of  this  technical  routine,  but  they  see  plainly  that  the  result 
is  disastrous  to  a  cheap  and  speedy  administration  of  justice. 

This  state  cf  popular  feeling  has  existed  in  different  ages, 
and  wherever  these  systems  of  common  law  and  equity  proceed- 
ings have  been  in  existence.  It  results  necessarily  and  inevita- 
bly in  as  great  a  delay  and  cost  as  any  system  which  the  wit  of 
man  could  easily  devise.  If  it  were  made  on  purpose  to  spin 
out  every  judicial  controversy  to  the  greatest  possible  length,  ii 
is  not  easy  to  see  how  it  could  be  made  more  fully  to  accomplish 
that  object.  Every  lawyer  knows  that  the  two  systems  had 
their  origin  in  accidental  and  fortuitous  circumstances  many 
centuries  ago — that  it  sprang  out  of  an  attempt  to  correct  the 
crudities  and  absurdities  of  the  common  law  courts.  The  pre- 
lunged  controversy  between  priests  and  common  law  lawyers 
built  up  two  structures,  which  have  now  grown  to  be  stupendous 
fabrics,  which  if  venerable  for  their  age,  are  not  wholly  exempt 
from  much  of  folly  and  absurdity.  The  great  English  Poet, 
living  under  operation  of  this  system,  makes  Hamlet  repeat 
what  was  but  the  echo  oif  nublic  sentiment  even  in  his  day  : 


21} 

"  Ilic  opprcafeor'e  wrong,  the  proud  man'ii  conturiely  ; 
Tho  pangs  of  despised  love,  iJie  law's  delay. 
The  insolence  of  office,  and  the  spurns 
That  patient  merit  of  the  unworthy  takes." 

The  noble  Dane  seems  to  have  thought  tliat  the  km?;  SAay 
was  one  of  the  "whips  and  scorns  of  time''  which  could  only 
be  escaped  by  taking  refuge  in  the  grave.  Whilst  Hamlet  spoke 
thus  on  the  English  stage,  Lord  Coke,  that  dry  and  hard  old 
lawyer,  was  giving  utterance  to  the  following  sentiments : 
"  When  I  consider  the  course  of  our  books  and  terms,  I  observe 
that  more  jangling  and  questions  grow  up  on  the  matter  of 
pleading  and  exceptions  than  on  the  matter  itself,  and  that  infi- 
nite causes  are  lost  and  delayed  thereby."  We  suppose  my 
Lord  Coke  to  have  long  since  departed  this  life,  but  certain  it  is 
that  the  evil  which  he  discovered,  is  yet  alive  in  confirmed  health 
and  vigor.  Wrangling  about  pleadings  more  than  about  the 
matter  or  merits  themselves  I  Lifinite  causes  lost  or  delayed  by 
it !  And  yet  we  are  told  that  any  attempt  to  overthrow  this 
system  must  result  in  confusion.  Confusion  !  to  make  a  state- 
ment of  the  facts  in  pleading,  in  plain,  concise  and  intelligible 
language,  instead  of  the  obsolete  law  language  in  which  the  par- 
ties are  required  now"  to  speak,  under  the  penalty  of  costs  and 
delay,  if  not  expulsion  from  the  court !  This  cry  of  confusion 
was  raised  against  the  one  hundred  lawyers,  headed  by  Chan- 
cellor Brougham,  who  commenced  this  great  rcfonn  in  England. 
It  was  raibod  against  those  who  commenced  it  in  New  York. 
"To  rest  as  we  are,"  said  Judge  Curtis,  now  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  State-s — "  to  rest  as  we  are,  is  to  continue 
to  impose  on  the  people  a  burden  of  delays,  expense  and  vexa- 
tions, which  in  our  judgment  necessarily  grows  out  of  the  pres- 
ent state  of  things."  The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  in 
1851,  abolished  all  the  distinctions  of  actions,  retaining  only 
that  between  contracts  and  wrongs,  and  in  1853.  passed  a  bill 
of  five  sections  applying  equitable  remedies  to  suits  at  law.  The 
last  of  this  mutilated  system  was  swept  by  this  statute  to  the 
receptacle  "of  things  lost  upon  earth." 

If  these  suggestions,  borrowed  chiefly  from  an  eminent  jurist 
(Judge  Humphreys,)  who  is  heading  the  movement  in  favor  of 


26 

law  reform  in  my  own  State,  be  too  thorough  and  radical,  stiH 
much  can  be  done,  and  should  be  done,  to  rid  this  noble  profes- 
sion of  its  antiquated  forms,  and  to  bring  it  within  the  compass 
of  an  ordinary  constitution  to  encounter  its  labors. 

There  is  but  one  other  pursuit,  or  profession,  which  the  brevity 
proper  for  such  an  address  as  this  will  allow  us  to  mention.  It 
is  the  science,  or  profession,  of  legislation  and  statesmanship- 
It  embraces  within  its  ample  folds  not  only  those  who  are 
engaged  in  political  aifairs,  but  in  fact  the  whole  American  peo- 
ple. According  to  the  theory  as  well  as  the  practice  of  our 
government,  its  highest  offices  may  be  filled  by  the  most  humble 
and  obscure  individual.  Every  man  may  therefore  be  considered, 
in  the  language  common  to  most  other  countries,  as  "heir  appa- 
rent to  the  throne."  He  may  at  any  time  be  "raised  to  the 
peerage,"  and  by  the  voice  of  his  fellow-citizens,  not  less  potent 
than  the  royal  patent,  take  his  seat  in  that  House  of  Lords,  the 
American  Senate.  He  may  be  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  Congress,  or  become  the  Governor  of  one  of  the 
States  or  a  member  of  its  Legislature.  The  vast  number  annu- 
ally elected  and  re-elected  to  those  high  and  responsible  offices, 
constitute  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  and  exert  a  most  powerful  influence  over  their  affairs.  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  a  large  majority  of  the  young  gen- 
tlemen who  now  surround  me,  are  hereafter  to  engage  in  this 
profession,  and  are  to  become  the  future  legislators  and  states- 
men of  the  land.  Would  that  I  could  repay  them  for  the  honor 
conferred  upon  me  on  the  present  occasion,  by  delineating  the 
character  of  a  truly  great  statesman — portraying  that  lofty 
sense  of  true  honor — that  unceasing  attachment  to  the  interest 
and  cause  of  the  people — that  never  dying  devotion  to  piety, 
virtue  and  patriotism,  which  should  distinguish  his  every  action  ! 

But  time  will  not  allow  me  to  enter  on  a  theme  so  inviting  and 
brilliant.  Whether  you  engage  in  this  or  any  other  of  the 
employments  and  professions  which  we  have  enumerated,  you 
should  never  permit  the  gloomy  shadows  of  despondence  to  pass 
over  your  firm  and  fixed  resolves.  To  doubt,  is  to  fail — to  res«lve 
boldly  is  to  be  saccessful.  Nor  must  you  be  content  with  mere 
mediocrity  of  attainment.     By  you  who   enjoy  the  advantages 


87 

of  such  an  institution  as  this,  the  very  word  mediocrity  should 
hn  scorned  !  In  this  age,  you  must  not,  you  dare  not  fall  below 
the  highest  standards.  It  is  the  age  of  progress — of  improve- 
ment in  every  science,  in  every  art,  in  every  profession.  It  is 
that  very  progress  which  is  making  your  University  the  pride 
and  boast  of  the  South,  and  drawing  to  it  annually,  as  you  wit- 
aess  this  day,  the  most  eminent  scholars  and  jurists  of  the  State. 
And  now,  gentlemen,  I  have  submitted  to  you  all  that  my 
leisure  enabled  me  to  prepare  and  all  indeed,  that  the  occasion 
seems  to  require.  I  retire  from  this  consecrated  scene  of  early 
life,  breathing  the  humble  prayer,  that  Earth  may  have  no  hap- 
piness and  Heaven  no  blessings  which  may  not  be  bestowed  upon 
^ou  and  on  this  large  assembly,  who  have  honored  us  by  their 
presence. 


■* 


